Europe

MADRID (Reuters) - Greeted by a group of singing young activists and the massed ranks of the world’s media, Swedish teenager Greta Thunberg arrived at the U.N. climate summit in Madrid on Friday, having taken a catamaran, train and electric car to reach the venue.

The quietly spoken 16-year-old, who has become the global face of public anger over climate change, has already emerged as the star of the two-week talks, even before addressing the gathering.

BERLIN (Reuters) - The incoming leader of Germany’s Social Democrats (SPD) said on Friday she was skeptical that their ruling coalition with Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives would survive but she was ready to give it a chance.

SPD members last Saturday chose two critics of the coalition with Merkel to co-head their party after months of turmoil and dismal performances in regional and European elections. Many party members want to quit government and rebuild in opposition.

THE HAGUE, Dec 6 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi will head a team of lawyers to hearings at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague next week to defend the country against accusations of genocide against the Rohingya Muslims.

The ICJ, also called the World Court, is the highest United Nations legal body, established in 1945 to deal with disputes between states. It should not be confused with the treaty-based International Criminal Court, also in The Hague, which handles war crimes cases against individuals.

BERLIN, Dec 6 (NNN-AGENCIES) —Months after a man was shot dead in a Berlin park, Germany is throwing out two Russian diplomats because it suspects the murder was ordered by Russia or Russia’s Chechen republic.

The expulsions come shortly after Germany’s chief prosecutor decided to take over the case.

Germany has accused Russia of failing to assist in the investigation.

Russia has rejected accusations of its involvement as “absolutely groundless” and says it will retaliate.

VIENNA, Dec 6 (NNN-AGENCIES) — OPEC and its allies led by Russia on Thursday were moving closer to agreeing one of the deepest output cuts this decade to support crude prices and prevent a glut, sources from OPEC and its allied producers said.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) meets on Thursday in Vienna and with Russia and others, a grouping known as OPEC+, on Friday.

Three OPEC+ sources said on Thursday the group would discuss increasing current cuts of 1.2 million barrels per day by more than 400,000 bpd.

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin offered Thursday to immediately extend the only remaining nuclear arms reduction pact with the United States, but a senior U.S. official said Washington wants a broader deal involving China.

Speaking at a meeting with military officials, Putin said that Russia has repeatedly offered the U.S. to extend the New START treaty that expires in 2021 but that it hasn’t heard back.

“Russia is ready to extend the New START treaty immediately, before the year’s end and without any preconditions,” he said.

LISBON, Portugal (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that Israel has the “full right” to annex the Jordan Valley if it chose to, even as the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court warned the country against taking the bold step.

Netanyahu said his proposal to annex the strategic part of the occupied West Bank was discussed during a late-night meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. He said they also agreed to move forward with plans for a joint defense treaty.

PARIS (AP) — Paris police fired tear gas at demonstrators Thursday as the Eiffel Tower shut down, France’s high-speed trains came to a standstill and hundreds of thousands marched nationwide in a strike over the government’s plan to overhaul the retirement system.

At least 90 people were arrested in Paris by evening as the protests wound down.

Police said 65,000 people took to the streets of the French capital, and over 800,000 nationwide in often-tense demonstrations aimed at forcing President Emmanuel Macron to abandon pension reform.

London/Washington DC; 29 Nov 2019 (UMM): British and US Governments have recently issued warnings, and detailed information sheets for its citizens travelling or staying in India.

India is fast building a reputation of being an unsafe place for women resulting some of the Western governments prompting to these advisory sheets being issued to its travellers.

MOSCOW, December 5. /TASS/: Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has said that Russia is prepared to build separate relations with the European countries, if they are unprepared to tackle problems together.

"We are prepared to build our relations with the European countries on the bilateral track. There is nothing very difficult about that," Medvedev said in an interview to a group of Russian television broadcasters. He recalled that all decisions in the EU were made collectively. In his opinion, the European Union’s current policies towards Russia were "shortsighted."